Boeing breaks ground on SC propulsion plant

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCIV) -- Boeing and North Charleston city officials broke ground on another Boeing manufacturing plant Tuesday in Palmetto Commerce Park.

"Are you ready for the revolution?" said Nicole Piasecki, vice president and general manager for the new building, during the groundbreaking ceremony.{}

The new propulsion facility, called Propulsion South Carolina, will manufacture engine nacelle inlets air intakes for the new 737 Max aircraft. The plant will be 225,000 square feet with enough parking space for 300 cars.

"Most of what we will do in the building is engineering work statement, design and analysis and then the manufacturing, the assembly," said Charlie Hix, director of Propulsion South Carolina. "The parts for this plant will come in from a variety of locations."

The company has not yet released how many jobs the plant will create, but officials do know the type of employee they will eventually hire.{}

"We're handpicking the best people for the job," Hix said. "We have found a lot of people in South Carolina that were already Boeing employees or that have been in the area.

The plant should be completed around November of next year and should reach full production by May of 2015.

The construction is part of a plan to invest more than $1 billion and create 2,000 additional{} jobs in South Carolina over the next eight years.